Part of: Assignment Desk Works, LLC v. Alexis Berg · Musgrave v. Mace (2:25-cv-01823-RMG) · Litigation Overview & Court-Filing Index
Exclusive: Man accused as 'predator' by Rep. Nancy Mace breaks his silence
In an exclusive interview with CNN national correspondent Randi Kaye, aired the evening of March 10, 2025 as a segment on 'Anderson Cooper 360°', Brian Musgrave, one of the four men Rep. Nancy Mace named in her House floor speech, denied her allegations on camera: 'Absolutely not. No, no.' Mace's allegations are contested and unproven; the dispute is the subject of ongoing civil litigation.
Randi Kaye ·
"Absolutely not. No, no.", Brian Musgrave to CNN, when asked if he had done any of the things Rep. Nancy Mace alleged
CNN national correspondent Randi Kaye landed the first on-camera interview with Brian Musgrave, one of the four South Carolina men Rep. Nancy Mace named in her February 2025 House floor speech. The exclusive aired the evening of March 10, 2025 as a segment on Anderson Cooper 360°.
Video: Brian Musgrave's on-camera CNN interview, in which he denies Rep. Mace's allegations ("Absolutely not. No, no."). It plays from The Daily Beast's video player, the same CNN footage The Daily Beast embedded in its report, which notes Musgrave "denied the allegations on an interview with CNN." CNN does not permit its own player to be embedded off-site; the CNN segment is linked below.
Musgrave told CNN he could not place himself anywhere in Mace's account:
"I couldn't think of a context where I would be named in a floor speech by Nancy Mace at all.", Brian Musgrave
He described what the public accusation had already cost him:
"For the rest of my life, when someone Googles 'Brian Musgrave' this is going to be the thing.", Brian Musgrave
His wife, Jen Musgrave, also spoke to CNN, saying her husband was "nowhere near any of those things that she was accusing him of." Musgrave's attorneys at Bland Richter, LLP, Eric Bland and Ronnie Richter, framed the appearance around the limits of congressional privilege. "You can't use the House floor as a bullhorn to destroy people," Bland told CNN.
Mace has denied wrongdoing. The allegations she made against Musgrave are contested and unproven, and the dispute is the subject of ongoing civil litigation. Musgrave filed a federal defamation suit against Mace days later; it was dismissed in August 2025 on Speech or Debate Clause grounds, not on the merits of any underlying allegation.
Watch it: CNN video →
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August 23, 2026 · DispatchMace Won't Talk About Brian Musgrave, and He Isn't Even Under the Gag Order
A year ago this week, a federal judge ended Brian Musgrave's defamation case against Rep. Nancy Mace, not because her 'predator' accusation was found true, but because the court held she was immune. Eighteen months after she named the Fort Mill businessman from the House floor, there is still no criminal charge, no evidence produced, no retraction, and SLED has told him he is not a target. Musgrave was never a party to the case Mace is gagged in, and his own case is closed, so nothing bars her from answering for the accusation. She simply does not.
March 14, 2025 · DispatchUS Rep. Nancy Mace sued for libel and defamation after making public accusations of abuse
Brian Musgrave, one of the four men Mace accused by name in her February 2025 House floor speech, filed a federal defamation and libel suit against her. The case was ultimately dismissed as to floor-speech claims under the Speech or Debate Clause, though the judge left open whether Mace's social-media statements were protected. All allegations are contested; Mace denied wrongdoing.
February 11, 2025 · DispatchRep. Nancy Mace details accusations of rape and sexual abuse in a speech from the House floor
Mace used a 50-plus-minute House floor speech to accuse four named men, including her ex-fiancé Patrick Bryant, of rape, sex trafficking, and other crimes. All four men categorically denied the allegations to NBC. The speech triggered multiple defamation lawsuits and is central to ongoing litigation; all allegations are contested and unproven.
November 7, 2025 · DispatchNew Filings Accuse Nancy Mace of Fabricating Sexual Assault Claims
FITSNews covered Bryant's third-party complaint accusing Mace, Melissa Britton, and Jane Doe of conspiring to fabricate sexual assault allegations for personal and political gain. Bryant denied all underlying allegations. Mace denied Bryant's account and called the filing an attempt to pay her again. All allegations are contested; litigation is active.
April 2, 2025 · DispatchProsecutors drop charge against man who Rep. Nancy Mace accused of assaulting her at the Capitol
Prosecutors dropped the misdemeanor assault charge against foster-care advocate James McIntyre, whom Mace had accused of 'physically accosting' her at a December 2024 Capitol event. Three eyewitnesses said McIntyre had simply shaken her hand. The dismissal drew wide coverage, which characterized the charge's collapse as undercutting Mace's account.
July 20, 2026 · Dispatch"The one I'm already in": Mace's Senate withdrawal was a statement about the case, made under a gag order that has never been lifted
Rep. Nancy Mace's July 20, 2026 announcement that she will not run for the Senate was, in both the video and the written statement, an announcement about litigation. She said she was leaving the race 'not because I'm backing down from a fight, but because the one I'm already in matters right now,' told supporters she has 'unfinished business,' and dated that business to the day she 'stood on that House floor.' That was February 10, 2025, when she named four men and told them they had 'bought yourself a one-way ticket to hell.' Three of those men are parties to Berg v. Bryant, where a gag order barring comment on the case was extended indefinitely in December 2025 and, on the documentary record, has never been vacated, dissolved, or found expired. It has also never been enforced. Mace contends it is unconstitutional.